Step 1: Consider your case.

What have you really done this past year? Did you drive more profit to the bottom line in a meaningful way? Did you suss-out a production inefficiency that has saved your company thousands/millions of dollars? Did you introduce your Boss or Boss’s boss to a premier customer with whom your company now does business? These are the kinds of things to consider. What have you REALLY done that goes beyond showing up for work sober. You DID show up for work sober, right?

Step 2: Begin to Prepare your case.

This is a finer comb activity. This is where years of experience playing chess may net you a nice bag-o-coin, but fret not, you navigate situations like this all the time. To wit, you navigate a freeway all the time (probably). This is just like that. On the freeway you have to avoid the crazy, angry drivers (my father) who cut you off/curse/slow/speed-up at whim, the half blind drivers (my grandfather, who is now no longer driving thankfully) who don’t mean to cause trouble, but can’t really comprehend (due to physical and visual limitations, not competence issues) moving at the speed of the rest of the traffic and aren’t really willing to try, and last but not least, the incompetent drivers - I don’t know what their motivations are, but avoid them. All this, plus you must move your body as quickly as possible to your destination safely. In some cases you dodge, others you may have to weave, but in all cases, you must keep going forward. Right?

Okay, so the destination is your raise/bonus. It is your responsibility to get everyone (all the drivers) to your destination. Which driver is your boss like? Who is in front of him? If your boss is an angry driver and his boss is a grandpa driver then you have a hot head stuck behind a slow poke. Yes? If you give the hot head room to maneuver around the slow poke, that will dissipate some of the angry driver’s energy and he’ll be kinder to you, the helpful driver.

This would be akin to you introducing your boss to a key customer that will give your boss a chance at a big promotion himself. Make sense? Since you’ve played the helpful driver, you can show your boss how you helped him meet “key customer” and that has opened up “door x” to “promotion y” for him. Do this subtly to avoid being tacky.

What if your boss is grandpa? Show him how you helped him stay safe by shielding him from the angry drivers. This would be along the lines of you taking on an extra assignment that his boss was throwing down the line of command; you working on and completing that job quickly, without need for supervision or direction from your boss so your boss’s boss is happy and your boss isn’t burdened with extra duties.

In essence, how have you worked WITH your boss (even if you think he’s a stinking rat fink) to make his/her life easier? Demonstrate that in your request for the raise. Do not expect your boss to remember every detail - to him, to her it was probably of very little consequence. Be succinct. Be clear. Tell the relevant details, get the memories going, make him feel good about how useful, helpful, productive you are and THEN ask for the raise.

Position yourself.

Step 3: Have a non-company mentor review your request.

Always put your request in writing so you can fully frame what you want to say and how you will say it, answer questions, respond to push-back. You may deliver orally, but be prepared in writing. Your boss may actually ask you to submit a paper request - sometimes as a stalling technique, sometimes for official documentation, sometimes just so she doesn’t forget you’ve made the request (me!). This request can be reviewed by your mentor for tactical opportunities, logic and relevance. If you have chosen a mentor in the same industry retired or with another company, she may know things about your company that can help you with your raise request (your Co. is about to win a big contract, your Co. President just lost 1/2 of this year’s earnings on a trip to Vegas, etc.). Do ask her to review your request.

Step 4: Practice, practice, practice.

Business is about presentation. We are constantly marketing ourselves, our product, our service, etc. just to keep the doors open. Embrace it. The better you do with fundamental activities, the higher you will rise. Practice how you will talk to your boss, your responses to questions, your tone of voice. Do it. Seriously. Make it natural. Confidence is earned through mastery of fundamentals - you cannot fake confidence.

If your boss sees you making a very natural request for a raise, he’s more inclined to give it to you.

Step 5: Go for it!

Ask your boss for a meeting time and then make your pitch. Be prepared. Good luck!

So your holiday bills are rolling in and you realize, dang, I need some cash, FAST! Maybe your boss will give you a bonus, right? Well probably not, if all you have to back you is your need. What have you done for your boss lately?

If you have been working diligently - making your boss’ life easier, then you have a fighting chance. However, if you’ve been goofing off or distracted, do not go ask for a raise! In most cases the, “It never hurts to ask,” mentality is good, but when it comes to getting your manager to part with a few pennies . . .

The logic is this: you have a finite number of opportunities each year to request an upgrade, i.e. a bonus. If you squander those opportunities, well, you are totally out-of-luck no matter how great you are. There is a certain seasonality to the process. February - just after the books for last year are closed and your boss knows if there’s some extra cash. July - as your boss budgets for the forthcoming year and enjoys the Northern hemisphere summer, and late-October as your boss’ College Football team is heading for a National Title (a few weeks later if NFL fans). Sure, it seems ridiculous, but there are generousity spikes at those times during the year. I studied and put that very information to use myself while running a not-for-profit years back, grew our donations 5000%, seriously. . . .

But here’s the catch. You have to have been extraordinarily productive in the months just prior to the request or your opportunity is null and void. You will be much less successful (i.e. fail) if you’ve been slacking off just prior to one of these “generousity inflection points,” GIPs. To maximize your GIP potential, work your tushie off for the 2+ months prior to the GIP. For the February GIP, make sure you work extra hard December and January. Got it?

Of course what I really advocate is working your tushie off, excelling beyond comprehension ALL THE TIME, but if you’re one of those folks who has to pace himself, well, use the GIP guide.

So what do you do if a GIP is not soon enough or you know you have to wait out this GIP? First, become very aware of what your boss needs so that she looks awesome to her boss. Second, do it, or at least help her do it. Find a way to insert yourself into your boss’ career path so she can’t help but appreciate you. Avoid passive-aggressive tendencies . . . if you are helping her, do it without expectation of gratification.. You are creating the foundation from which you will be able to approach her for more: money, time, responsibility later.

Go forth and be prosperous!

Wealth Building Tip #3 is all about the mechanics. You have a plan. Automate it!

You may not love spreadsheets like I do . . . that’s cool, here’s how some of my clients set up their accounts and how they manage them with minimal effort. Building wealth happens best when it can function on autopilot.

So the sets of accounts are out there: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. Step 4 is a bonus. You can rip through this entire process in a weekend if you must. Given the impending doom of Credit Card bills in January, now might be the best time to take a look.

Thinking about what to give your parents for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus? How about giving them the gift of a wealthy you! They’d rather see you able to thrive on your own than buried in debt buying Dad an Ipod nano and cordless screwdriver set.

Can you build wealth by being an Employee?

ABSOLUTELY!

When thinking about your financial picture consider that having stability is the foundation from which you want to build. Some people prize that stability more than others. If you remember selling bumper stickers door-to-door in your neighborhood for extra bucks at the age of 7, and gumballs door-to-door at age 5, well, then you may have an entrepreneurial streak or at least a penchant for sales. Even still, you may prefer the “safety” net of working for someone else.

While current employment is no guarantee of future employment, the fact is, it is a lot easier to be an employee than it is to own a business for 99% of the population. Recognizing which part of the population you are in is paramount to your success. Even if job security isn’t what it once was, deluding yourself that you can operate a full business is always what’s it’s been - a disaster.

Take a soulful look at which you prefer and get a few more ideas: How to Build Wealth - Investing versus Employment

Today’s lesson on personal wealth building encourages you to play with  what you have. The Asset account is for intermediate-long term but higher risk than your stable long term account. Assuming you’ve set up the other accounts in respectable fashion, this is where you can blow your wad, or really, hopefully, where you establish yourself as a savvy investor.

Check out How to build your wealth - play with your money! 

As always, we can not be responsible for your lousy investment choices or analysis. Nor can we be responsible for your wild success . . . though we will try to claim it.  Wink, wink, nod, nod, get to it.

So now that you know what you want and how to divide the rest so you can get what you want, you need a place to store it, yes?

Enter: Stash your Cash. Part 2 is live. GET TO IT!
Start at the very beginning. Go here if you are just joining us at Miss Mentor and want the full Monty of personal finance.

Start at the beginning of Stash your Cash - the kinds of bank and investing accounts you need . . . even when you don’t think you have money to put in them if you missed yesterday and can’t be bothered to scroll down.

Why is it important to know how to build wealth, um, seriously, do you need to ask that?

MONEY!

Oh how I love the smell of wealth in the morning . . .

This week we get into the nitty gritty of where you should stash your cash while you are learning how to build wealth. This is not a one size fits all situation, but I do have some recommendations based on the accounts you should have organized last week. This is the week to set up those accounts.

Click here to Get to it!

Personal Budget Day 3 is where it all comes together. You know the terms, now get down with the concepts. Shake your tail and you could be feeling filthy rich by this time next year.

Don’t forget to be nice to your cube neighbors before you go. That way they’ll come work for you when  . . .

Personal Budget, Day 3 - get some.

You need a personal budget. Whether you are cube-bound and looking to make a break for it or trying to create wealth, you need to sit down with your papers at least once.

I know, I know, this is about as *Hot* as an Igloo, but we’ve made it super easy for you to do. Yesterday was part one of the terms you need to know, today, part two.

Tomorrow we will share the wide-view of where you want to go. In the meantime, get your personal budget

Wealth Building Tip #2 – Plan for Wealth, the Personal Budget

Unless you’re born with it or get very lucky along the way, you need to PLAN for wealth. The following Personal Budget PLAN recommendations acknowledge that you have special needs as a young professional. Chances are you have more debt from pursuing education than average, or you are looking to take on some debt for education. It also acknowledges that you have all sorts of large financial events in front of you: houses, babies, gigolos….

FIRST, some terms to keep us together.